Safe and Sound
by SpaceIsEndless
Summary: "She remembers a time where she wasn't Katniss Everdeen and a world where Katniss Everdeen was just a fictional character in a popular young adult book series that she used to love. And now, Katniss Everdeen is all she is." - SI/OC;


**I don't own _Hunger Games_. It rightfully belongs to _Suzanne Collins._**

**So, here I am, posting _yet_ another story and not updating the ones I already have posted.**

**And with an idea that so many others have already done and written and I wanted to try it out to see how it could go.**

**This chapter is messy kind of dabbles of the main character's life joined together. It's sort of a prologue per say so if it seems rushed and like it doesn't really go over certain things, that's because this was the way I chose how to write it. **

**Also, t****here's an small excerpt that I took directly from **_The Hunger Games: Mockingjay _**during the first part of the chapter that I don't own.**

* * *

She remembers.

She remembers a mother that isn't the one holding her. A mother that had dark hair instead of blonde and was just as kind and gentle with her, that laughed and got angry with her for the stupid things she'd do but still loves _(loved)_ her anyways.

She remembers a little boy instead of this pretty little girl she's holding with bright eyes and bright hair, too _bright _and too _beautiful _for a world, a dark world, like this. A little boy with bright blue eyes and dark hair and chubby cheeks and a beautiful, oh so _beautiful _smile and laugh that she loves (_loved_) so much.

She remembers a father that was alive until her end. A father that was strict when he needed to be but playful and kind and awkward at times and she loves (_loved_) him more than anything.

She remembers _living _in a bright world that had its ups and downs, where she could run and laugh and be _happy_.

She remembers her death that was gruesome and painful and she _hates _how it makes her _sob _and _scream _whenever she thinks about it.

She remembers getting reborn. (although she _wished _she didn't)

She remembers a time where she _wasn't_ Katniss Everdeen and a world where Katniss Everdeen was just a fictional character in a popular young adult book series that she used to love.

And now, Katniss Everdeen is all she is.

(The person she was before is gone and she's never going to be able to see her mother and father and little brother again because in that world she's dead _dead dead _**deaddead)**

She's Katniss and Katniss is her. Katniss Everdeen, a young girl from District Twelve, with no father to keep them safe, a mother to protect because she just can't get out of bed and _do something dammit_ and a little sister to protect from the evilness of the world.

A little sister, little Primrose with her bright eyes and bright hair and bright smile, who will be picked among thousands for the Hunger Games and she'll have to take her place and protect her because she _has to _(Katniss is no longer here to do it - she took her body, her _life_, as her own and now she has to _deal with it _\- so she'll have to do it in her place) and then end up losing her, little and beautiful Primrose with her bright eyes and bright _everything_, anyways because the world is _cruel _and nothing good can survive in a world like this.

\--_I'm almost there, almost to the barricade, when I think she hears me. Because for just a moment, she catches sight of me, her lips form my name. And that's __when_\--

No no _no __no **no **_**no**That's _not _gonna happen. Little Primrose, who smiles like the sun and is so kind and gentle and beautiful, who loves to sleep cuddled with her and Buttercup and with their mother, who has her little Lady and takes care of her, who is too precious and means way too much to her.

They'll never take little Primrose from her. Katniss, the original Katniss, may not be longer here but she'll never let anything happen to her little sister, who is now _her own _little sister and who she loves oh so much.

She'll protect Primrose in place of Katniss (who is her, she's Katniss but she's _not _but still _is_) and hold her close and never, ever let go.

And she'll live. Somehow. Someway. It may take time and effort and pain and hurt to get there but she'll do it.

Because Katniss (it's who she is now, no matter how much she wished she wasn't but she still _is _and there's no going back) is going to survive and _live_.

* * *

"Katniss?"

She hums, fingers gently going through blonde strands. It was still weird to answer to that name but it's _hers _now. She'll have to get used to it eventually.

Little Primrose (thin, unhealthy but still looking like the brightest star in the world) is looking at her, cuddling Buttercup to her. The cat _is _the ugliest thing and he seems to somewhat like her (not as much as he loves Primrose though) and he keeps Primrose happy so she'll let her keep it. She'll do everything to keep her sister happy and _safe_.

"What if I get picked?" the little sunshine asks, curling even more into her ball, "What if I have to go . . . in _there_?"

Their mother is looking at them from her bed, tense and eyes filled with so much terror and _agony_ that she swallows dryly. She turns back to her little sister and runs her finger on Primrose's pale cheek, "You won't, little flower. When the Annual Games are held, you will have only one slip there so the chances of it being you are minimal."

Minimal but _not _impossible and that's exactly what happens but she forces those thoughts away. She needs to reassure her little sister that everything will be okay, that _she'll _be okay.

"But _what if _it happens?" Primrose insists, looking so _so _terrified with the whole idea that she moves the cat away (who growls but nevertheless, curls up on the floor) so she can pull her little sister into her embrace where she holds on tightly.

"It's never gonna happen," she states firmly, holding the child tightly in her arms, "And even _if _you are picked, you wouldn't go through them."

"How?"

She shakes her head, running her hands through blonde strands once again, "Don't think about that. Sleep."

As her little sunshine falls asleep, Katniss holds her even closer, feeling her eyes stinging with unshed tears and humming, "_You are my sunshine . . ._"

_Never gonna happen._

* * *

She catches a glimpse of him in school.

She hadn't been looking for him or anything, just sitting in a corner of a classroom, with a book she took from the library when a flash of blonde caught her eye and there _he _was. He looked _small _to say the least (a child. He was still a child. They _all_ were) with his short blonde hair and blue eyes, bright blue eyes, that were focused on her own. He'd been watching her, she realizes in a second and ends up finding the situation cuter than she expected. When she raises an eyebrow at him, his pale cheeks flush and he turns away.

Discreetly, she smiles and goes back to reading.

She can say for certain that she hadn't forgotten about Peeta Mellark. No, she'd never do that but she sort of left him to the side and made Primrose and their mother and learning how to hunt her first priority. She took a _long _time to figure out to use the bow that their father left behind for her. Days, _weeks _she lost count honestly so she didn't have time to really thing what she could do for the boy with the bread.

His future isn't . . . the best but it gets better, she supposes. Slowly but surely. Should she just let it unfold as it did in the novels? Be indifferent towards him but still hold him close to keep him safe as she can? No, she doesn't think she's capable of that. He's so kind and gentle and she used to love him when she read about him. And he deserved _a lot _better than what happened to him. The torture and hijacking . . . She sort of . . . wanted to be his friend but wouldn't that change a lot of stuff? Making them meet and develop a friendship that doesn't have any acts in it?

She realizes then that she really doesn't care about changing stuff. She just wants the people she cares about safe and surviving until the end.

And that included Peeta Mellark.

Mind made up, she shuts the book closed with _thud_ and leaves it in her worn out bag and stands up. As she moves, she thinks really hard about this can change. Not much, right? It's literally a meeting that's gonna happen a bit sooner than originally. That can't screw that much? And even if it does . . . _he's _worth it. He's worth everything.

Maybe with this, he'll end up being the leader of the future revolution. _Maybe_.

Reaching her destination, Katniss smiles at wide blue eyes belonging to the boy with the bread, "Hello."

" . . . hey," he says hesitantly, like he doesn't quite believe what's happening and a flush still present in his cheeks.

"Can I sit with you?"

And for the first time in many, Peeta Mellark smiles back to her, "Sure."

And she'd stay by his side. _Always._

* * *

She meets Gale when she's hunting.

She's alone, in the middle of the woods. At first, she thought against doing this but she could use the practice and the animals to trade for _anything _she can get. The bow still feels awkward in her grip and her father's tips are on her mind and as she pulls the string back and points it at the rabbit, she hesitates for a second. The fluffy creature looks up and its nose twitches and she thinks back to how Primrose declared how all animals should have a chance to live and misses the shot. The rabbit jumps away and desperation goes through her because that was the _third _rabbit she lost already.

"_Dammit,_" she hisses, standing up.

And when she turns to find another spot, there's a boy watching her. Olive skin, the trademark grey eyes and dark hair. He's a tall boy, six foot if she remembers correctly and she's almost sure this guy is Gale Hawthorne, best friend to Katniss and side love interest.

To be honest, she wasn't that keen in meeting him at all. She didn't really want the whole love triangle thingy but now that she's face to face with him, she feels like she owes it to Katniss to befriend him and keeping him close. He _was _her best friend and one of the most important people in her life and he's also important for the future and if she's deciding to go into the Games, she needs him here, to take care of her family. Like the original Katniss asked him to.

But there's something in the back of her mind making her almost hesitate. She remembers a small detail. A detail that changed the original Katniss' view of him. She's not sure what to believe. Was it _his_ bombs that killed Primrose? Or wasn't? And did it even matter? If she's gonna do her best to save Primrose, it means that she'll _not _be anywhere near the Capitol mansion in the end. She'll make _sure_ of that.

So there's no issue at all. Not really.

_For now at least._

"Hello," she says it very softly and quietly, hoping that he doesn't turn her over to the Peacekeepers.

He's silent, eyes moving from her to the bow, to her grip on it and back to her, "Do you need some help with that?" he asks, an easy smirk appearing on his lips and she's frozen. He's _teasing _her. Messing with her.

She flushes in embarassment but doesn't say a word.

He steps closer to her and watches her, "You need to correct your stance. Here," he proceeds to grab her arms and positioning them in the right that feels a _lot _more comfortable than before, "See? Feels better, doesn't it?"

She's quiet for a moment, closing her fist tightly around the bow until she finds the strength to speak up, "You're not gonna turn me over to them?"

Gale shrugs, seeming indifferent with the whole thing, "I won't tell, if you won't tell about me."

And it's then she notices the crossbow on his back. She wonders where he got it and did he even have that in the original book? Was she already changing things?

Deciding to not dwell on that, she focuses on the tips he gives her and decides that it was for the best that she's letting him in.

* * *

Then, it finally comes.

The day of the Reaping.

The first thing she notices is that it's cold. Not because it rains or because it's windy but it's _cold_. The way the Grey sky seems to have darkened even more and the way the people from Twelve move terrifyingly slow towards the town's square and the way they grip at each other, shaking. It's all so monotonous and hard to take and little Primrose is shaking, holding tightly onto her hand. Little Primrose, who just has a strip in the bowl, who will be picked from all these kids, who will _live _because she wouldn't allow Primrose to _not _survive. Katniss would never forgive her, if she were still here.

"It's okay, little flower," she says and the little girl squeezes her hand even more tightly, looking up to her with bright sky eyes filled with terror, a terror that a twelve year old girl shouldn't have in her eyes, "Everything is gonna be okay. I promise."

She catches Gale's eyes and gives him a weak attempt at a reassuring smile. He won't hate her, will he? He never did hate Katniss for what she did. He had been probably terrified and worried about her but never hated her for it. He _understood, _as he has little siblings who he's probably do the same for. In a heartbeat.

She also attempts to find Peeta and when she does, he's already watching her with terrified blue eyes and she _really_ thinks about how that boy (a boy that she ended up bonding with and becoming friends with) is gonna end up in the arena and she's gonna end up there with him and she's gonna do whatever it takes for them to survive. She gives him a sad smile and he looks confused for a second, before he reluctantly smiles back a really small smile.

He's not dying. She's not dying. They'll survive. _Together_.

Everyone stands in an organized order, by ages she notices, and she loses sight of Primrose for a second but she quickly finds the little girl, her terrified little sister, and keeps her eyes on her.

The speech goes on and on, going on about the Rebels and the Games and she doesn't really care about that and then she hears Effie Trinket's cheerful voice announce, "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be _ever _in your favor!" and she straightens up, getting herself ready for it. For the what she _knows _will happen.

"Ladies first!"

She breathes in and out, thinks back to her little Primrose's laugh and smile and _knows _she's doing what she's _supposed _to do.

"_Primrose Everdeen_!"

And before her terrified, beautiful and kind little sister can move a muscle, Katniss is moving out from the order and into the clear path leading to the podium and she shouts,

"I volunteer as tribute!"

_And the spark begins lighting up._

* * *

**And so it begins my descent to ****crazyness**.


End file.
